Leicester scout hut at centre of religion protests to reopen

Thurnby Lodge petition

A former scout hut which was the focus of protests over plans to turn it into an Islamic centre is to reopen.

Last year the As-Salaam Trust said it wanted to take over the building in Thurnby Lodge, Leicester, after using it for prayer meetings for some months.

A residents group organised a series of protests and a petition, calling for it to be used for the wider community.

But the residents group has been given a rent-free lease of the hut and the As-Salaam Trust will use a nearby site.

Several protests, some attracting hundreds of people and requiring a significant police presence, were held over the issue.

The residents have refitted the building with donated goods since January, when the two-and-a-half-year rent-free lease was agreed.

Originally called the Forgotten Estates, the group is now known as the 55th Community Association, named after the old scout group.

BBC News, 22 March 2013

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Far right ‘fights Islamic bigotry against women’

ENR Crayford mosque protest adWhen it comes to the ideology of Islamophobia, fascists invent nothing new – they just take their inspiration from the mainstream media. I doubt most of them had even heard of sharia law or halal slaughter until the right-wing press decided to create moral panics over these issues. In embracing received anti-Muslim prejudice, the one contribution the racist far right does make is to give it an additional thuggish twist.

So, with the likes of the Daily Mail having helped to stir up controversy over so-called “gender segregation” at iERA’s recent public meeting at University College London, it was only a matter of time before far-right racists adopted this as their cause.

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Infidels’ leader in court over Sunderland mosque demonstration

Warren FaulknerThe leader of far-right group the North East Infidels has appeared in court accused of causing disorder during a demonstration at the site of a new mosque in Sunderland.

Warren Faulkner, who leads a splinter group of the English Defence League, will be tried by a jury after he denied causing fear or provocation of violence at Sunderland Magistrates’ Court on Thursday March 21, 2013.

He also pleaded not guilty to possessing cocaine, a Class A drug.

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Pork-filled envelopes sent to French mosques

Bacon envelope

Loonwatch draws our attention to an article in Al-Kanz reporting on a series of recent incidents in which French mosques have been mailed envelopes containing pork.

Since the beginning of February, mosques at Meximieux, Mulhouse, Brest, Mandelieu-la-Napoule, Nice and Aubervilliers have all been targeted in this way, in some cases twice.

Al-Kanz notes that while nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the campaign, French fascists have openly advocated this tactic (see illustration above).

Al Kanz has also issued an appeal for other mosques who have been targeted in this way to contact them and the Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France so this latest manifestion of Islamophobia can be exposed.

Men in court over violent clashes at Sunderland mosque demonstration

Six men have admitted causing disorder at a far-right demonstration at the site of a new mosque in Sunderland.

Around 200 people attended the pre-planned demonstration on St Mark’s Road in Millfield on Saturday, October 6 2012, where a former council transport depot is being converted into a mosque for up to 150 Pakistani Muslims.

The English Defence League, Scottish Defence League and Sunderland Anti-Fascist Coalition were among the protesters. A group of Muslims and locals also attended in a counter-demo.

Numerous arrests were made and 13 people in total charged with a range of public order offences.

At Sunderland Magistrates’ Court on March 18 2013 six of those charged pleaded guilty to the charges.

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Two arrests as BNP demonstrate against Rotherham mosque plans

BNP Rotherham anti-mosque protestDemonstrations by the British National Party and Unite Against Fascism in Rotherham passed peacefully, police said.

Seven BNP supporters were given section 27 dispersal orders. Two were arrested for breaching these orders.

About 40 turned out for the far-right party near the B&Q roundabout to protest plans for a replacement Chapel Walk mosque.

Rotherham Advertiser, 18 March 2013

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Newcastle: community unites against EDL

Peace campaigners are to unite against the English Defence League when they hold their biggest march of the year through Tyneside.

Hundreds of members of the right-wing organisation will walk from  Newcastle’s Central Station to the Bigg Market in protest over plans for an Islamic School at the former Byker Grove building in the city’s West End.

Now faith leaders and councillors are gathering to organise a peaceful city centre festival on the same day to celebrate Newcastle’s ethnic diversity.

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A new insight into the EDL’s support base?

Roots of ExtremismLast week Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) launched a new study by Matthew Goodwin, a Nottingham University academic specialising in the far right, entitled The Roots of Extremism: The English Defence League and the Counter-Jihad Challenge.

Claiming to debunk the assumptions usually made about the EDL attracting disproportionate support from the economically disadvantaged and the unemployed, Goodwin’s paper produced headlines such as “Managers and skilled workers make up bulk of far right supporters” (Daily Telegraph) and “English Defence League supporters are mostly full-time workers, survey finds” (Huffington Post).

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EDL protester in court for racist outburst

A protester who made racist remarks to a police officer and spat at another during last month’s EDL and anti-fascist protests in Cambridge pleaded guilty yesterday.

Roy May, 56, of Elmfield Road, Cambridge, urinated outside a house in Emmanuel Street on February 23 when street closures for the protest were taking place. Pc Singh confronted May about what he was doing and received a torrent of racial abuse, city magistrates were told.

Delia Matthews, prosecuting, said: “He was swearing and his words were slurred because he was drunk.” May then spat at police officers, catching Pc Helen Greenfield on the cheek.

May will appear in court again on March 18 for sentencing.

Cambridge News, 12 March 2013

UKIP battles to contain extreme elements

In today’s Guardian Robert Booth and Rajeev Syal report that that the UK Independence Party and its leader Nigel Farage, who have been boosted by their candidate’s second place in the Eastleigh by-election and are now installed in their new upmarket headquarters in Mayfair, have set themselves the task of reining in the extremists who are drawn to UKIP.

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